Up against nine other councils for ‘Campaign of the Year’, ‘Veggie Run’ launched in April by Havering’s in-house service provider, HES Catering Services. It targets four to 11 year-olds and encourages them to lead a healthier lifestyle.
With circa 20,000 downloads, reports claim there has been a “14% increase in school catered meals uptake (since April).”
Cabinet member for children’s services, learning and education, Robert Benham, added: “I am very proud that Havering Council has been recognised through the LGC Awards 2019 for developing such an innovative healthy living campaign for children.
“Veggie Run links to the council’s healthy school catered lunch offer and within one academic term, an additional 136,363 healthy school meals were consumed by children aged 4-11 across the borough.
“After gaining support from Change4life (and Quorn), the campaign has evolved and has now partnered with the West Ham United Foundation to deliver healthy living learning to over half of schools in the borough.”